I'm a Volunteer!

Hey everyone, hope all is well in the states.  Thanks for reading my blog even though I haven't made too many updates yet!  Thanks also to my mom and brother for making a quick update for me, although they were too kind in saying I am fluent in French, I can get by, but I still have a lot to learn!  Here is an update of what's been going on in Togo!

The end of training went well, and every trainee in the NRM (Natural Resources Management) program swore in! Yeah!  Swearing in ceremony was very nice, everyone wore special outfits their host families made for them, and said a short speech in the local language of their village. There are a lot of great people in NRM, and our posts are throughout the country.  My post is in the North of Togo, where there is one dry season and one wet season. (In the south there are two wet seasons).  Dry season started around November and will last until March or April, until it really starts to rain again.  It is dry and dusty,and Harmattan (dust in the air from the Sahara) makes it hard to see long distances.

I am practicing Kabiye, the local language spoken in my village and plan to get a tutor so I can really start to learn.  I know how to greet people and say, I'm going here, or I'm going there, but that's pretty much it.  Mowoki ('muhwoki', kind of like Milwaukee, actually) means 'I'm going'.  I use this a lot.  Good afternoon is nyana wisi (neeon -a-weesee) and if someone says this to you, you say, alafia! ('ah-la-feeah') This means all is well.  It is tricky, there are 32 letters in the alphabet and a lot of words sounds very similar to me, so you really have to focus on the tones of words.  But, as they say in Togo, ça va aller, it'll be fine!

My house is really great, and I am working on cleaning and organizing.  I have a living room/kitchen, a bathroom which has a bucket flush toliet, a bedroom and a spare room.  I have a big front porch which will be graeat to have meetings.  There is a chalkboard there, so neighbor kids come and do their homework.  It's test time in school here this week, and then everyone has a vacation for the holidays and returns to school January 4, just like in the states.  I met with a group of high school students last week and had a English conversation club.  It was great to talk with them, answer grammar questions, and we practiced some Kabiye too.

The first three months at post we're not required to do any projects, just get to know people, the community, and settle in.  My post is great because it's close to Kara, a large city where there is internet, a great market every day and even a store where I can buy, if I really have the craving, things like ketchup, pringles and chocolate chip cookies.  These items are expensive (1000 CFA, about 2 dollars for pringles) so thus far, I've held off.  There are a lot of good things to eat here, as everyone has just harvested their corn, millet, sourghum and there are lots of vegetables at the market. One of my favorite things here is soja, Togolese tofu, and it is awesome.  Women make it here and I learned how to make it during training.  I  like it because it has a cheese consistency, cheese being something I miss dearly from Wisconsin. 

Anyway, I am going to pick up a skirt from the tailor now.  Buying pagne (colorful cloth people makes clothes out of) and having dresses, shirts and skirts made is really fun!  There are so many beautiful designs.  I will say goodbye for now, and happy holidays, à la prochain!